In advance of July 4th weekend, we've got an informative infographic created by Smithfield in tandem with BBQ luminaries Moe Cason and Tuffy Stone, highlighting the differences between backyard cooks and professional pitmasters.

While you can find great barbecue in backyards and BBQ joints across the country, it’s the South that has defined our shared outdoor cooking culture for generations. In All Fired Up: Smokin’ Hot BBQ Secrets from the South’s Best Pitmasters (Oxmoor House 2013), award-winning pitmaster Troy Black and the editors of Southern Living travel from Texas to Alabama and everywhere in between to offer up recipes that define this rich barbecue region.

Among the 175 recipes shared in this story and photo rich cookbook is Black’s twist on Texas beef ribs featuring a glaze made of sorghum syrup, a popular Southern sweetener that comes from sweet sorghum grass and can most be compared to molasses.

When done wrong, brisket can be very, very bad. But when done right, it's like a little slice of heaven with each and every bite. Today, Grillocracy is offering up the goods on how to reach brisket nirvana, true low-and-slow style!